Mbeya Memories 1959 - 1961

Mbeya School was co-educational primary boarding school founded by the Germans and taken over by the British in 1942. It would appear to have closed its doors in 1963. It was situated in the Southern Highlands Province close to the township of Mbeya. For most pupils the only method of travel to school would have been by road although a very few may have flown in. The nearest rail connection was the town of Itigi on the East to West railway line between Dar-es-Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast and Kigoma on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Children between the ages of 6/7(?) and 11, years 1 to 5, attended the school from almost all areas of Tanganyika and it was not uncommon for journey times of 2 to 3 days between home and school. The pupil population were separated into four ‘Houses’ with each House having two dormitories, one for girls, the other for boys. These were Wallington (Red), Livingstone (yellow), Burton (Green) and Stanley (Blue). Each House had a House Master (boys) and Mistress (girls) and each dormitory had a Matron.

My Memories

The most clear memory is of my dormitory. Looking from the front of the Assembly Hall, roughly North, and directly opposite and parallel, was another long Hall building where we would spend our playtimes in periods of wet weather. As an aside, this room had a large wooden model of a camouflage painted British Lancaster bomber suspended from the ceiling, why? who knows, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, out of reach of even the tallest kids. On the rear side extending away from this Hall were three of the dormitory wings. Mine (Wallington boys) was the furthest to the right (East). The dormitory consisted of a long room divided into two by a brick archway, a cloakroom at the Hall end and two wings off to the right at the Hall and bottom ends. The bottom wing was the Matrons flat and the top wing the bathroom and toilets. A veranda ran along the entire Western side of the dormitory where each evening we would clean our shoes and submit them for Matrons inspection. There was a row of beds (10 – 15?) either side of a central aisle with each bedspace containing a bedside locker and (normally only during the rainy season) a mosquito net suspended from the ceiling. The beds were allocated in terms of age with the youngest immediately outside Matron’s flat and the eldest at the farthest end next to the cloakroom. The cloakroom held a number of large, locked, shelved cupboards, each shelf containing a pupils worldly belongings, in essence, their clothing for the entire term, each and every item carefully name tagged. The bathroom held 3 or 4 baths in which we would be put, two to each bath, every evening before bedtime. Occasionally, children would be invited into Matron’s flat for tea and biscuits. Matron, in our case Miss Frost, was ‘mother’ to us. Her responsibilities included laundry, cleanliness (both dorm and kids), minor discipline, overseeing shoe cleaning, bed making and bathing and a whole host of other, behind the scenes, tasks. The House Master/Mistress was primarily a teacher but given the secondary task of building his or her ‘House’ into a team. They were the driving force behind inter-house sports, plays, singing or other competitions. They also dished out corporal punishment for major infractions of the ‘House’ rules wielding that object of terror, the ‘Tackie’, or in the case of our House Master, Mr Briant, a nine inch long slab of flexible rubber which we boys nicknamed ‘The Dunlop’. I will always remember being caught after ‘lights out’ stripping wood from the flat tops of the cloakroom cupboards (why , havn’t a clue) with a number of other boys. The following evening we, the miscreants, were lined up in the dormitory’s central aisle, told to drop our pyjama bottoms and bend over. Mr Bryant then paced up the aisle giving each lad a whack as he passed. At the end of the line he turned around and retraced his steps repeating the punishment. It must have been hilarious to watch but I didn’t feel like laughing at the time! Any infringements of discipline in lessons would be dealt with by the Headmaster, William ‘Bill’ Morgan. Fortunately my visits to the Headmasters house were all social since I was friendly with his son, Richard. The only clear memories of meals was breakfast. In the main a ghastly porridge, with salt to taste, and toast. I only ever ate toast after the first taste of porridge. I believe it was once a week, probably Sunday, when porridge would be replaced by Corn Flakes. If you were lucky enough to arrive with or be sent jars of jam, marmalade, Bovril or Marmite, you were allowed to keep them in a welsh dresser type cupboard at the front of the dining hall and use them on your toast. This was always a good bargaining chip for favours. ‘Borrowing’ someone’s conserve was a good way of getting into a scrap as my younger brother, Robert, found out after ‘borrowing’ my Marmite. Ownership of toys and other bits and pieces were jealously guarded so empty Corn Flake packets, ideal for storage or making things, were eagerly sought after. According to my letters home I helped out a Miss Bunta (spelling ??) in the kitchens during spare time giving me a better than average chance of collecting the boxes. This also gave me the opportunity of sampling some of the better tasting foodstuffs they produced. One of the more pleasant things the kitchen produced was birthday parties or teas. I can’t recall how these parties actually worked out but the kitchen would provide a cake and the birthday girl or boy could invite a limited number of her or his friends, the choice of which depended upon who was in favour at the time. Plenty of social grooming going on then!!!! Teachers and staff ate with the pupils with each member of staff looking after a table, probably to keep us in line whilst we ate. From my letters it would appear that the seniors of Year 5 would eat supper (dinner)at a different time to the rest. This is gleaned from a line in my letter, whilst I was in class 4B, which states “ I do prep in the evenings now with the seniors and have supper with them”. Why or how this came about beats me! Although the school teachers and administrators tried to keep our time as active and regimented as possible there was plenty of opportunity to play. In the main, all periods of play time had to be spent in the areas of the school playing fields, of which there were three. Hanging around the Dorms was not an option open to us. Two football/hockey pitched were sited to the right of the school entrance road between the main school classroom buildings and the main road. The third pitch was on the left of the school entry road between the kitchen/dining block and the main road. The pitch closest to the classrooms block was separated from its neighbour by a 15 yard or so strip of mature trees with more woodland at its Eastern end. The furthest pitch was bounded by woodland on its Eastern and Southern sides whilst the Pitch behind the Dining block was bounded on all sides by either strips of trees or more dense woodland. These wooded areas were the most likely places to find children at play. Many tiny feet over the years had carved pathways between the trees and the more inaccessible places made great places to build dens. Although climbing trees was against school rules there was one tree which we named ‘Big Uggy’, after a character in a comic of the time, which had broad low branches easily scaleable by 9/10 year olds. We spent many happy times both under and amongst it’s branches. There was also a weekly, Sunday afternoon walk, accompanied by members of staff, to the River Gardens. This was an area of tended lawns, flowers and trees either side of the river which flowed in an S shape to the North of the school where a pump house was situated to pump water uphill to the school. We all looked forward to this trip for a variety of reasons. There were Catfish in the river and regular fishing competitions were held. All sorts of childhood games were played and I think the Guy Fawkes night bonfire was lit there. I still have a photograph that my mother took of young girls at the River Garden when, as a teacher, she visited the school in 1946, more than 10 years before my time there. One incident of note, was being quietly drawn well over to one side of the path as we walked down the hill to the river to avoid a deadly ‘Black Mamba’ snake sunning itself close to the other side of the path. Our native guards standing by to spring into action if it showed any hint of belligerence.During the ‘rainy’ season we were limited to playing in the aforementioned Hall during rain storms. As we grew older another means of passing the time was to offer to walk the dogs of teachers and staff. If they agreed and began to trust you they would ask you to return as and when you could. I and a friend befriended one of the more elderly teachers, name long past forgotten, in this way and could be seen every Sunday, towards evening, walking her dog which was followed by tea and biscuits on her veranda. Half term was generally spent in school for those who lived too far away to travel and the staff would try to help us pass the time with organised activities. There were at least two active Cub Scout and Brownie packs. The Headmaster, Mr Morgan ran the cub pack that I joined. A variety of non sporting competitions such as fancy dress, kite making & flying, etc, took place throughout the year. Occasionally you would be invited to spend half term with a friends family living fairly locally (anything up to 100 miles from school). However, permission had to be sought from your parents before the school would authorise such a holiday. The school grounds were fairly extensive so teachers on playground duties had a nightmare of a job to keep their charges under observation so there was a element of trust and obedience to school rules between us and the teachers. The grounds were also patrolled by native guards armed with throwing spears to keep away undesirables, of which we saw few, if any.I have less memory of life in the classroom. I recall there was some element of competition by the awarding of pluses and minuses for work. Gaining a certain number of pluses over any minuses (i.e. one minus would negate a plus) resulted in the award of a ‘Star’ which was either handed to you, or your name was read out, during morning assembly. I forget which. There was also something called the ’Three Weekly Order’ which gave your academic position in class during that period. Exams were held but whether they were termly or annually I forget. After lunch we were all sent off to our dorms for a lie down before continuing with afternoon lessons. On Saturdays the mornings were spent writing letters home and to other relatives. I regularly wrote letters to my brother David in St Georges & St Michaels School, Iringa. After lunch we looked forward to a trip to the tuck shop where we could buy such delicacies as peanut brittle, sweet cigarettes; etc; Later in the afternoon we were entertained by a film. Comedy and westerns were the favourites but occasionally they would throw in the odd documentary. On Sunday all pupils attended a church service of one sort or another. At each service one of the children would read the lesson, I was selected several times throughout my time at the school. The names of teachers and staff that have cropped up in my letters home are;

Most illnesses were handled , on site, in the school sick bay. At one time they had to clear the senior boys dormitory to turn it into an isolation ward when Chicken Pox swept through the school. I was one of the unfortunates and vividly remember being lined up with the other sufferers to be liberally doused all over with Calomine Lotion by the Matron. Dental problems such as fillings or tooth removal were referred to the Asian Dentist in Mbeya. Not a pleasant visit. He would almost always use a general anaesthetic which meant no food or drink during the prior 24 hours. That didn’t stop me from being as sick as a dog when I woke up from the anaesthetic. I got on well with a lot of the boys at Mbeya but I have never been very good at remembering names. It did not help having no further contact with them after the age of 10 due to our departure to the UK. From my letters I have uncovered the names of some of the boys. They are, in no particular order;

These memories would not be complete without a mention of the epic trek that we made between home and school. Living approximately 30 miles from the South West corner of Lake Victoria in the West Lake Province village of Biharamulo the first stage of the journey was in my Father’s car to Mwanza on the South East shore of the lake. This entailed 100+ miles of rough bush road, which turned to a muddy sludge track in the wet seasons, to the car ferry between Bussisi and Kikongo and onwards to Mwanza. I don’t recall spending the night in Mwanza so it must have been a very early start from home. At mid afternoon we were loaded aboard the train at Mwanza Station and set off towards the rail junction at Tabora. With no snacks or drinks available to buy on the train, between meals, we boarded with whatever our respective parents gave us for the trip. On one occasion, my mother being ever practical, put us on the train with a box of concentrated Rowntrees Jelly cubes instead of sweets, and a full, plastic, water bottle . My younger brother, Robert, in his inimitable wisdom, decided to flavour the water by dropping a couple of jelly cubes into his water bottle. What he found later, when thirsty, I leave to your imagination. Suffice to say that we didn’t have any implements small enough to fit through the neck of the water bottle to scoop out the contents. An evening meal was served in relays in the restaurant car after which we retired to our compartments for the night. At some unearthly hour we would be woken up by bangs, clangs, bumps and shouts as our carriages were attached to the Kigoma to Dar train at Tabora Junction. Onwards through the night towards Itigi. Breakfast was served in the restaurant car followed by a return to our compartments until our arrival at Itigi. The country we passed through on the train was sparsely populated and consisted mainly of open bush. It may surprise people not brought up in East Africa that long journeys could be made through the bush without ever seeing any wild game. I don’t recall ever seeing any wild animals on either the train or bus journeys. At Itigi we were given a light lunch and possibly an early evening meal before boarding the Mbeya bound overnight buses. A favourite pastime in Itigi was digging for ‘Fools Gold’ which could be found all around the station. Once on the buses the first thing to do was ingratiate yourself with the African guard who generally took up the whole of the rear bench seat. If you were lucky he would invite you to share this seat giving you a more comfortable ‘bed’ for the night. This favour would usually go to the older children so your age was a relatively important factor. Using the word comfortable is probably a misnomer since the seats were of the wooden slat variety. Arrival at Mbeya School was very much dependant on the state of the roads. I have documented arrivals at 4 or 5 am and also midday. We would generally arrive at Mbeya several days before the new term actually began so had to be kept occupied in one way or another for a few days. One of the first jobs was to write home to let your parents know you had arrived safely. And, joy of joys, you had the return journey to look forward to at the end of term. Only locally stationed families got to see their kids at half term.

As a child I recall either posting or taking home to Mum & Dad an aeirial photograph of the school and always wondered what happened to it. Having put these memories on the forum I was contacted by Chuck Thompson who also attended the school for about 2 years. After looking through some of his old letter collections he came across a letter sent by his brother Ruston in Tanganyika to their older brother Elwood being educated in Canada. Along with the letter was a photograph I instantly recognised.

We lived in Dar-es-Salaam where my father worked at Barclays DCO. Prior to that, we were in Kenya during the Mau-Mau. Anyway, in 1954 when I was about 7 years old we moved to Tanganyika. My eldest brother was sent home to England to prep-school, while my middle brother and I were educated locally. He went to Kongwa and I went to Mbeya. In the early days, we boarded the train at Dar station and went to Morogorro (sp?) where we transferred to native buses. These were rather primitive vehicles - wooden slatted seats and open side panels (no windows to close). The journey took three days, stopping overnight at various places.It was a boring, tiring journey, especially going away to school. Mind you, it was totally different on the way home. In those days we had two school terms in the calendar year, so it was a long time to be away from home, especially at that age. Some of us managed and thrived, while others were very unhappy. Going home, though, I well remember the excitement and anticipation - we used to sing and chant the whole way home!

My first term at Mbeya was tough. I was assigned to Burton house, and we had a little green square sewn on the breast of shirts and little khaki dresses, with our Cash's name tapes carefully sewn into every item of clothing. On laundry day, having changed into a fresh set of clothes we would line up down the middle of the dormitory holding the pile of used clothes destined for the laundry. Once at the front of the line, you would drop one item at a time onto the growing heap, calling out what it was, so matron could mark it on her laundry list: "khaki dress, khaki nickers, sports dress sports nickers..." etc.

That first term, I was in Miss Butcher's dormitory. Looking at the photograph, walking from the dining hall,through the archway into the dormitory quadrangle, it was the dorm on the right side. I did not know any other children (having just come from Kenya), so a group of the older kids started to pick on me. Every little thing I did wrong (mostly whispering after lights-out to the girl in the next bed) was reported to Matron. It started with reprimands, then I was moved to another bed, and finally I was isolated to a bed by itself on the way to the showers. I was definitely on the slippery slope with authority. Finally, the mobbing reached a climax towards the end of term when I was blamed for a broken cupboard. It was my word against theirs, and matron was already convinced I was a "bad one" - for me there was definitely "no tea and biscuits with matron", let me tell you. Anyway,Miss Butcher sent me to the headmaster (William Waddington, I think) for "strapping". It was definitely a turning point in my life. I held my head up and refused to cry. The next term I was in a different dormitory, with a different matron, and I was tougher - so life improved from then on.

The dining hall was the huge building on the end of the main square. There was a flag pole there on the small lawn across from the dining hall. At mealtimes a native would beat a large native drum for about five minutes to announce the meal. The sound carried for miles, so even if you were out on the playing fields, you could hear it. I remember the porridge, and I did not mind that so much, but the peas - oh dear, they had not been picked over properly, and frequently there were caterpillars in them - Ugh! I don't remember any birthday parties at all.

I do remember the activity hall (across from the assembly hall). Wet weather activities were puzzles or crafts. Playtime for the girls consisted mainly of group skipping with a long rope, when all kinds of songs went along with it. Ball games were also a favorite. You had to find a section of unoccupied brick wall along one of the many verandahs, and then there were many "throws" involving one or more bounces, or none, which had to be executed together with other turns, jumps, hand-claps, etc.,depending on the complexity, all without dropping the ball,so the player could move onto the next level of complexity. All building memory, dexterity, and fitness, I suppose. In later years, a favorite game was jacks, with a small rubber ball, and metal pieces to be snatched up and the ball caught all with one hand.

Between classes, a necessary task was the feeding of the pet chameleon. With the chameleon in hand, one went from window to window while the chameleon snapped up the miriad flies. We did not have screens on the windows, and I know we did not have mosquito nets in the dorms. I remember one time, a boy had extended a great favor by allowing me to feed his huge, horned chameleon in the gap between classes. I felt honored and did my best to feed his hungry pet, so that I was the last one dashing into Latin class. I had the creature on my hand, and I had the desk lid raised, as if I was getting out my books. The creature would not climb off my hand into the desk! Finally, as the teacher was getting suspicious, I had to scrape it off my hand and shut the desk. At the end of class,imagine my horror to find I had squashed it!

The assembly hall was a favorite place. Miss White played the piano and I was in the choir, so choir practice took place regularly every week. At the back of the assembly hall was a real stage, with wings and the usual equipment for scenery, etc. - actually it was quite sophisticated, given the place and time!

At the back of the classrooms was the gym which had bleachers on the outside facing the huge playing field. The gym was equipped with climbing bars on both sides which went all the way up to the windows at the top of the walls. A favorite warm-up game was Ship's Captain, which went like this. The gym teacher was the captain; he would call out "man the starboard" and we all had to run to the right wall and climb up the bars; "man the port", and we all had to run to the left and climb up (the last person off the ground was "out", and had to go and sit down); "hit the deck" (lay on the floor); "freeze" (anybody moving was out) etc., until there was only one gasping person left in the game, who was declared the winner. I loved it!

I also remember playing, making dens,climbing and sliding down the branches in the fir trees. To this day, that particular pine scent pulls back memories. The river garden was a favorite place, but only allowed at weekends. The black mamba was in residence in my day also. Dog walking for teachers was a favorite task, and we would be rewarded by being allowed to pick guavas from their trees.

When I was about 11 years old, I was in the senior girls dorm (off to the right in the picture, on the way to the sick bay - do you remember the huge eucalyptus trees beind the sick bay? Anyway, living in that dorm, I remember they "apple-pied" my bed one evening, while I was not looking, and put a big lizard at the bottom (haw-haw monicky - sp?).

One time, I remember going by bus to visit a large meteor that had crashed through the atmosphere somewhere nearby (several hours journey). It was a science-related excursion, as we all climbed over this huge hunk of whatever and learned something about the planets, etc.

The school was well equiped for sports. The girls played rounders and hockey, and I remember one year how we rebelled when asked to learn cricket! I started cross-country running at Mbeya and was really enjoying it, when I was diagnosed with Osgood Slaters disease (inflamation of the knee joints). This involved rubbing a loathsome ointment on my knees which turned the skin yellow-brown (lovely!) I outgrew it in about 18 months.

In my final year, I was actually named head girl, which espunged my earlier reputation.This was the best time. At the end of term, there were usually a couple of days before the buses came to take us home. There was the ritual hike to the top of Mbeya mountain which involved the whole school - children and teachers. I had done it so many times by this time, I knew the way by heart. We had two new teachers that year (male and female) that seemed to take a shine to each other. They were lagging behind on the climb back down, and I guess they lost their way. A search party had to be sent out the next morning. My my!

All in all, I loved it at Mbeya and was sad when we were posted to the Congo. Finding this blog and being able to share memories is great! If you download Google Earth, and plug in the coordinates: Lat: 8degrees55'28.66'S Long: 33degrees24'44.38'E, you'll be able to see what it looks like now (June 2004).

You have both brought back many memories of my short time at Mbeya School - just prior to Uhuru, my parents thought it best for me to go to a mission day school in Tabora. I have fleeting memories of Mbeya school and the grounds. Mostly I remember a few impressionable moments. My first week at Stanley House dorm...I think I cried the first week...then got over it... Some boys were talking and nobody would own up so the matron (I forget her name) lined us all up for the tacky. I was scared stiff...I somehow got myself to be last in line behind the smallest boy there...Loigi Ottelli - I'm 55 now, but I remember this like yesterday...I thought to myself, "If this little kid doesn't cry, I cannot cry." Another time: I'd pinched the little finger on my right hand in a drawer or something...it had quite a nasy blood blister on it...I'd done something that was going to warrent the tacky and the matron was mad...for some silly reason I reached back as the tacky flew and it caught my little finger...the blood burst out of that blister and I think it startled the matron as much as it did me. I never got caned, but I remember those who did showed off their marks with great pride...there was one fellow who swore at the Matron of Wallington House and she held his Sunday shoe by the toe and left 4 or 5 half cressent bruises on his butt.

I remember girls didn't get the cane, instead they got the strap or the belt because it was less likely to leave marks and it generally didn't break skin.

I remember a drummer in the early morning...was that to wake us up or to call us to breakfast?

Finally, I learned to hate turnips at Mbeya because I remember a lot of bland turnip soup --- or is that just my imagination?

Hi, Those stories sound very much the same as life in Arusha School. In those days I think you had a choice of either Mbeya or Arusha to go to school.It's funny but I can remember when I first started school I was 6 and went to boarding school.I started school life in Nakuru, Kenya.Take care.Mike Brown

My brother, Ruston (Rusty) Thompson, went to Mbeya School starting probably in 1948 or 1949...he was well liked...I think he went to Kongwa and then to Iringa. At the end of his second last term there he went on to Dar es salaam with David Western and his brother. Rusty was to have his eyes checked and get glasses or something. At any rate he was a very good swimmer as were the Westerns and they went "goggle fishing" (snorkelling) in a bay near Dar. That was on Thrusday, July 28, 1960...two months shy of his 18th birthday. The boys were separated and only Rusty's snorkel gear washed up on shore. His body was found in a tidal cave on Saturday...the day my parents arrived in Dar. Rusty had been the Head Boy at Iringa... I have pictures of him escorting the Bishop of York around the school - Rusty wearing the ceremonial academic gown.

HiI have just found this site and it is very intresting. In you comments about the school you said that you rember Richard Morgan. He is my brother and is now living in Northampton. Our father was the Headmaster till about 1963/4 not sure, as I was sent back to school in the uk, Sadley dad die avout 20 years ago.Mark Morgan

Hi MarkRichard was about the same age as me. I was born in 1950. I can remember being somewhat in awe and trepidation of your Dad when I was invited to one of Richard's birthday parties. If you or Richard have any photos of the old school I'd love to see them.

Wow what a flood of memories. Our dates at Mbeya are much the same. Wallington, Miss Frost ( stand in the corner with hands on head ), David Sargent ( stayed with him the weekend before my 11+ ), Toynes David and Alan if memory right, Cubs, Scouts, Miss Harding so brave when we had a bus accident on the way to school.

I think I am going to have to write a memory brain dump of both Mbeya and St Micheal's and St George's Iringa.

It wasn't until I was reading one of the letters I sent home from Mbeya that I realised that both you and I were invited, at different times, to stay with David Sargant (Segent?) and his parents. Do you happen to know where he lived? It would have been fairly close to Mbeya.

It is, more than, highly likely that you and I knew each other and played together!

Wonderful memories just come flowing back to me when I read these letters. Only problem I have the guys that I went to school with 1947 to 1953 just don't seem to login on these wonderful stories.Is there anyone that has any contact with the older generation from 1947 - 1953. I am trying so hard to contact Barbara Sargant, Betty Louwrens, Phillippa Crowder, Margaret Swift, Penny Waddington. Jane & Caroline Bayldon ( they lived in Mbeya.) Rita Lagopoulos, Helen Poupoula. I was lucky to make contact with Neville Watson, who was in my class. What about Claus Meier, Nicholas Langton. Do any of these names ring a bell to any one. Another funny memory that comes to my mind are the two wheels that we had at Mbeya school. The green one was allocated to the boys and the red one was for the girls. They were very well balanced and two kids could sit on them and then roll them round and round. Can any one remember them. Letty Wessels ( Engelbrecht)

Honestly, I have often wondered how all the kids from Mbeya School turned out!! I was there from 1955 I think until 1960. I was initially in Miss Butchers dormitory and then moved into Miss Cravens Dorm. She was a much nicer matron. there was also Miss Drew who was a nice matron.Miss Von Geppard fed me two pudding spoons of mixed mustard for pretending to talk in my sleep...I haven't like mustard sinse. I just remember getting the takkie more often than I would like to admit. I remember the notice boards with each house and the kids names. My name was longer than anyone elses and it had more minuses than plusses. It made me stronger and every Mbeya School kid seems to be quite a character. Must have done us some good. BUT ALL THOSE RULES!!